Overview

Work Time is a sociological overview of a complex web of relations that shapes much of our experience of work and life yet often goes without critical examination. Cynthia Negrey examines work time past and present, exploring structural economic change and the gender division of labor to ask: what are the historical, cultural, public policy, and business sources of current work-time practices? Topics addressed include work-time reduction in the US culminating in the 40-hour statute of 1938, recent trends in annual and weekly hours, overtime, part-time work, temporary employment, work-family integration, and international comparisons. She focuses on the US in a global context and explores how a new political economy of work time is taking shape. This book brings together existing knowledge from sociology, anthropology, history, labor economics, and family studies to answer its central question and will change the way upper-level students think about the time we devote to work.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cynthia L. Negrey (University of Louisville)
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   Polity Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.327kg
ISBN:  

9780745654263

ISBN 10:   0745654266
Pages:   200
Publication Date:   30 March 2012
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 From Field to Factory and Beyond 9 Original Affluence? 10 Medieval Church Time, Modern Clock Time 14 Commodified Time 18 Industrial Time-discipline 19 Time-work Discipline in the Twenty-first Century 25 Gendered Time 27 2 Work-time Reduction in the US 31 Citizenship, Leisure, Education, and Health 34 From Haymarket to Henry Ford 40 Work Sharing and Fair Labor 51 Two 30-hour Experiments 57 Conclusion 63 3 Current Trends 65 Annual Hours 66 Weekly Hours 69 Overtime 71 Non-standard Work 74 Non-standard Schedules 90 Hours Mismatches 92 4 Work–family, Work–life 96 From Family-based to Family Consumer Economy 97 Women’s Labor-force Participation 99 Family Structure and Employment Hours 102 Housework, Child Care, and Free Time 102 Work–family 108 Private Adaptations 109 Workplace and Public Policy Initiatives 114 Work–life 124 5 Work Time Outside the US 128 Work Hours in Industrialized Nations 128 Work Hours Regulations in Europe 136 Women’s Part-time Employment in Europe 148 Family Policies 151 European Couples’ Work-hour Strategies 158 Work Hours in Transition and Developing Countries 163 Work Hours Preferences 171 Conclusion 172 6 A New Political Economy of Work Time 174 The Electronic Cottage 178 Customized Time: Two Forms 180 Recommendations for Change 181 Work Time and Environmental Sustainability 187 Conclusion 191 Notes 195 References 201 Index 229

Reviews

Cynthia Negrey has written an astute, thorough review of what we have learned about the issue of work time since the issue was put back on the table by Juliet Schor's The Overworked American. By placing the issue in historical context, and by providing a comparative framework for thinking about the American experience, her book succeeds in its goal of getting readers to think about how work time might be organized differently, in ways more compatible with the needs of a changing workforce. Peter Meiksins, Cleveland State University Engaging and accessible, Work Time illustrates the historical development of the concept of time, then deftly weaves together the broad literature around the defining work-time innovations of our era, namely the transition to part-time, temporary, and other non-permanent forms of employment. By integrating the literature on today's work-time configurations and providing an international comparison of social policies aimed at supporting work-life balance, Negrey helps readers make sense of one of the most complex and significant issues of our times. Work Time is essential reading for students and a valuable resource for researchers, educators, and practitioners who are interested in work, gender, and the intersection of the two. Anne Zacharias-Walsh, Solidarity Ink

Author Information

Cynthia L. Negrey is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Louisville.

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